How to Make a Weather Barometer

Be a backyard meteorologist with your own homemade barometer, and make weather forecasts like the pros.

Wash a 12-ounce clear glass bottle that has a straight neck and an eighteen-ounce clear glass jar, making sure to remove any labels. An empty 18-ounce peanut butter jar is a good choice for this barometer project.

Begin to assemble the barometer by first placing the bottle inside the jar in an inverted position. Fill the jar with just enough water to come up over the mouth of the bottle by an inch or so.

Add a few drops of food coloring to the water before slightly tilting the jar to allow air bubbles to release from the bottle. Then place the rubber band around the outside the jar at level with the water.

Next, find a spot to set up your barometer station. Avoid a location where it could be accidentally tipped over. And make sure it is not exposed to direct sun, or artificial temperature changes.

Sit back, and observe water levels rise as air pressure rises to predict fair conditions, and drop as pressure falls to predict rain. Now, you’ll never have to look farther than your own barometer station to forecast the next picnic day or when to pack an umbrella.

Did you know that since 1977, Banner Elk, North Carolina, has celebrated the weather-predicting woolly worm with an annual festival?

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